On the question of apocatastasis: the category of time in the metaphysics of St. Maximus the Confessor

The article examines the attitude towards universal salvation against the background of the understanding of time in the legacy of St. Maximus the Confessor. When studying the corpus of the saint’s works, the author revealed three “levels” of temporality, or three different types of time: time as χρόνος, time as αἰὼν, and implicit temporal temporality - στάσις ἀεικίνητος. Following the texts of the saint, the author of the article claims that the first level of temporality represents the dimension of the creature’s movement, the difference between “before” and “after”. The second is the temporality of the creature in comparison with the Uncreated and the temporality of the intelligible plane. The third describes the completion of any mode of temporality and characterizes the supernatural state of the whole creation. At the same time, it is shown that the triad under consideration is similar to other triads of the saint: emergence (γένεσις) - movement (κίνεσις) - rest (στάσις), being (εἶναι) - well-being (ἀεὶ εἶναι) - ever-well-being (ἀεὶ εὖ εἶ) and sixth - the eighth day. Analyzing these types of temporality, the author comes to the conclusion that at no level does St. Maximus the Confessor think of universal salvation, but only speaks of bringing all creation to God after the resurrection and the salvation of the worthy.